Shanghai Targets 8,000 Humanoid Robots in Factories by 2028; Siemens Cites Zero-Tolerance Barrier

On October 12, Shanghai launched the "Action Plan for Accelerating the Development of New Generation Smart Manufacturing" at the opening ceremony of the 26th China International Industry Fair. The plan sets a specific target: deploying 8,000 humanoid robots into factories by 2028. This initiative aims to deepen the integration of AI and manufacturing, accompanied by goals to increase industrial robot density to 600 units per 10,000 people and cultivate 500 advanced smart factories.

Despite clear numerical targets from policymakers, the industry remains cautious about large-scale implementation. Zhu Xiaoxun, President of Siemens China Research Institute, stated, "No factory is willing to turn its production line into a testing ground for AI trial and error." He explained that humanoid robots rely on trial-and-error learning and post-training data, whereas industrial scenarios demand zero tolerance for errors, creating a fundamental conflict. Currently, although Siemens' Nanjing factory has deployed humanoid robots for automatic material feeding on SMT lines, these deployments remain in the Proof of Concept (POC) stage and have not achieved full automation.

To address this challenge, the industry is exploring digital twin technologies to iterate robot capabilities in virtual environments and pushing for standardized interfaces. For instance, China released the national standard "Smart Factory - Modeling Rules for Reconfigurable Production Systems" in July 2026, which will take effect in February 2027, aiming to unify information models across devices and reduce integration costs. Additionally, some manufacturers are shifting towards more pragmatic non-humanoid or wheeled robot solutions to handle specific logistics pain points such as moving and sorting.